CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ All that talk about Giants heart, only to have it broken.
In a game in which Odell Beckham Jr. caught and threw for a touchdown and the Giants took their only lead of the game with 1:08 left after a hurry-up drive, they fell to the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, 33-31, on a 63-yard field goal by Graham Gano with one second remaining.
The loss drops the Giants to 1-4 on the season with a Thursday night game against the Eagles looming.
The Giants had the ball at their own 25 with 2:16 remaining and in need of a touchdown to take the lead. They did when Eli Manning hit Russell Shepard for a 40-yard gain to the Panthers' 15 with 1:23 remaining and then threw a short pass to Saquon Barkley for a 15-yard touchdown. That play, with the running back leaping into the end zone over the right pylon, plus the extra point gave the Giants a 31-30 lead with 1:08 remaining. It was the first time the Giants scored 30 or more points since the last game of the 2015 season, and it couldn't have come at a more important time with their season on the verge of crumbling.
But the 1:08 remaining was the number on the scoreboard that many Giants fans were staring at. That left the Panthers with plenty of time to get into range for a game-winning field goal attempt. In fact the Panthers reached the Giants' 46 where they called timeout with 36 seconds remaining. With 6 seconds remaining Gano came out to complete the 63-yard field goal.
A scrambling attempt at a kickoff return officially ended the game.
Cam Newton converted a fourth-and-1 pass from the Giants' 44 to a wide-open Jarius Wright for a gain of 27 with less than three minutes left. That set up a 39-yard field goal that gave the Panthers a 30-24 left with 2:16 remaining.
On a day that began with all ears on Beckham stemming from his incendiary interview that aired on ESPN, the Giants wide receiver had all eyes on him during the game and found himself in the midst of a lot of action. With the Panthers leading 7-3, Beckham had a chance to extend a Giants' drive on fourth-and-3 but dropped a pass from Manning. Then, Beckham was back to return a punt and while trying to block a gunner from downing he had the football hit his leg. Janoris Jenkins tried to recover the live ball but fumbled it, Eli Apple had a chance to recover it, but Panthers safety Colin Jones pounced on it in the end zone for a Panthers touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
The Panthers were up 17-3 when Manning threw a screen pass to Beckham, who then wound up and threw a deep pass for Barkley that went for a 57-yard touchdown. It was the first Giants score of the season with Beckham's name attached to it.
The Giants closed the half with a 53-yard field goal from Aldrick Rosas to make it 20-13.
Beckham had a chance to tie the score early in the third quarter when Manning threw to him in the end zone on third-and-14 from the 18. Beckham had the ball in his hands, but cornerback James Bradberry stuck his arm between Beckham's arms and ripped the ball out for an incompletion. The Giants settled for another field goal that made it 20-16.
After the teams exchanged interceptions late in the third (Newtons was picked off by Curtis Riley, Manning's came on a first-down pass for Beckham that Mike Adams jumped after the Giants had driven 53 yards on three plays), the Giants had a chance to get the ball back when Landon Collins nearly intercepted a Newton pass on third-and-14 from the Panthers 41. Instead, the Giants were flagged for unnecessary roughness. The call on the field was against Collins, but it might have actually been against Michael Thomas. It seemed to not warrant a flag in any case. It gave the Panthers a first down at the Giants' 44 and extended a drive that ended with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey with 11:21 left in the fourth to make it 27-16.
The Giants' response was another Manning interception, this time in the direction of Sterling Shepard with Adams once again the perpetrator. Manning expected Shepard to cut his route inside while the receiver stayed outside.
Even after that gaffe, the Giants got the ball back when Jenkins picked off Newton and returned the ball to the Panthers' 34. That set up a 33-yard touchdown pass to Beckham, with Manning putting the ball between Adams and Bradberry. Manning then hit Rhett Ellison for a two-point conversion that made it 27-24 with 8:08 remaining.
